divided into suitable Districts, for Associations; and, after attending twenty-nine General Meetings, and more than an equal number of Committees, since the 15th ult., I have now the pleasure of announcing the establishment of Five Branch Societies, and Twenty-one Associations, in this county; and their regular organization, according to the system recommended by our Committee, and now in general adoption throughout the kingdom. The late period of the year, and pending engagements in other quarters, render it necessary to postpone any further proceedings till the ensuing Spring, when I have promised (D.V.) to co-operate with the Committee in the further prosecution of the work so happily commenced. The Biblical System of the county now includes One Auxiliary, Seven Branch Societies, and Twenty-seven Associations; including the Branch Society and Ladies' Association at Hay, which find it more convenient to correspond with the Herefordshire Auxiliary than with that of Brecknockshire. Of the 239 Parishes within the county, about 128 have been thus brought under Biblical cultivation. May the blessing which alone" giveth the increase " descend on the labour and the Labourers!

From Mrs. Mertens.

Brussels, Dec. 14, 1829. YOUR Letter of the 2d December proved truly consolatory to me under my present heavy affliction: and I thank you, and all sympathizing friends who were acquainted with my late dear husband, and join with me in deploring his loss. He has finished his course, and now enjoys the reward of his labours. His death was the tranquil sleep of the righteous he felt not its sting, for the Lord was with him; and his comfort was felt by us all. To the last moment of his life, his soul was in the closest communion with his Lord: a peaceful serenity, which was not of this world, but which was vouchsafed to him from above, diffused itself through his whole frame. He bore the pains of his sickness with patience, and without repining: often would he say to me, "Oh! how much has the Lord suffered for me! Why then should I complain? These sufferings are beneficial to my soul; and I am sensible that they attach me more and more to Jesus: every thing here below passes away; but His love and mercy endure for ever! I am not afraid of Death; for my anxious, endeavour has been to be united with Him who has conquered Death!"

This has been a heavy trial to me. Pray for me, that I may not sink under it, but that the Lord may strengthen me to discharge those duties which now require double exertions on my part. How often did he scatter the good seed during his life! How many excellent counsels and exhortations did he impart to the members of his family! May they bring forth fruit after his death; and tend more and more to wean us from sublunary things, and to direct our sole attention to those which are heavenly! How much consolation did I derive from that treasure, the Sacred Scriptures, out of which he read to us every morning and evening! Every word speaks with power to my heart, and points to the source of that comfort which I may derive from them. The Bible was the most valuable possession of my late dear husband: it constituted the happiness of his life, and filled him with the hope of immortality. It was only this last summer that he enjoyed the satisfaction of transmitting 21 New Testaments to a Roman-Catholic

Clergyman. Although this Clergyman was still in darkness, yet, as he had shown us several proofs of attention, we gave him an invitation to visit us, which afforded Mr. Mertens an opportunity of recommending to him the perusal of the New Testament, and of tendering to him a number of copies gratis, in order that his congregation might be supplied with this treasure. At first, he wished to have nothing to do with the proposal; alleging, by way of excuse, that he was not permitted to introduce the Sacred Volume among them. Mr. Mertens, however, forwarded the books; nor did he return them, though he made no use of them. It is however remarkable, and must afford you pleasure to learn, that, the first Sunday after Mr. Mertens' demise, the same Roman-Catholic Clergyman recommended to his congregation, instead of reading so many useless and even injurious books, to begin at length with the perusal of the New Testament, in order that they might learn from it what life we must lead to become true Christians, and how we may die the death of the righteous.

I, myself, had distributed several copies of the New Testament: and now, in consequence of permission being given to read them, many have applied to me for this heavenly treasure. Our dear friend, Dr. Pinkerton, promised me, when he was last here, to favour me with a small consignment: and I shall be the more desirous of receiving a supply, as I hope to find opportunities of scattering the good seed among many, who, from the spiritual blindness of their pastors, are deterred from turning to the true light.

From the Rev. T. Blumhardt.

Bâsle, Dec. 18, 1829. YOUR interesting Letter of the 2d November has afforded us all much pleasure; and we thank the God of all grace, that, by means of the powerful operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society, He is pleased so gloriously to carry on His work among the nations of the earth. If there is any Oriental Nation in the present day which is more particularly deserving of attention and encouragement, it is that of the schismatic Armenians, who have stood forward, with full strength, to unite together as a Nation and a Church, and thus to prepare the way for their spiritual regeneration. The latest Journals of our Missionaries at Schuscha contain singular instances in proof of this; and one young Wartabat after another, desirous of receiving instruction, applies to them from the convents, for the purpose of being taught the languages of the Holy Scriptures. It is true, that already here and there a spirit of persecution has been awakened among the Clergy, and occurrences of an unpleasant nature have actually taken place; but the people in general are, in point of education, superior to the Clergy; so that the latter, as a body, and even the Synod at Etschmerzin are unable to exercise any considerable influence over the course of events. A remarkable circumstance even recently happened in the neighbourhood of Schuscha, where a considerarble congregation unanimously required of their priest, instead of going through the usual routine of idle ceremonies on Sunday, to read and explain a chapter out of the Bible: on the priest's refusing to do so, he was dismissed by the congregation.

Our Missionary, Mr. Pfander, residing at Schuscha, has recently set

out (with a worthy English Physician of the name of Groves, who together with his whole family visited Schuscha) for Bagdad; whence he proposes to visit Schiraz, and to remain there at least one year. As they will pass through the territories of the Curds, we have particularly pressed upon their attention the necessity of keeping an eye on the printing of the Curdish Scriptures, and of obtaining all the requi site information connected with that subject.

Our Missionaries are anxious to receive, as soon as possible, some hundred copies of the Persian New Testament, and other parts of the Scriptures which may have been printed in Persian. They might either be sent via St. Petersburgh or Bushire, to the care of Major Taylor: and the reason for this application is, that they have none left, having given their whole stock to the two travellers before named.

From the Rev. Donald M'Pherson, late a Missionary in Egypt.
January 25, 1830.

HAVING been kindly favoured, by the Committee of your Auxiliary Bible Society at Malta, with regular supplies of Bibles and Testaments in the various languages of the East, during my late residence at Alexandria in Egypt, I feel it to be my duty, now that I have returned to my native country, to furnish you with some account of their distribution. It is therefore with pleasure that I comply with your request to communicate some of the facts connected therewith, which have recently come under my own observation. The enclosed communications, addressed to the Committee of the Bible Society at Malta, will enable you to form some idea of the extent given to the circulation of the Scriptures in Egypt.

Extract of a Letter to the Rev. W. Jowett, Secretary to the Bible Society at Malta. I ought, long ere now, to have acknowledged the receipt of the Amharic, Ethiopic, and Coptic and Arabic Scriptures, all of which I received in good order. I presented the Superior of the Coptic Convent at Alexandria with a copy of the Coptic and Arabic Psalters, with which he was much pleased, and thought it would be highly prized by the Copts; for though the Coptic Language is in a manner a dead language in Egypt, yet it is as much valued by the members of the Coptic Church as the Latin amongst the members of the Latin Church Your depository here is pretty well stocked with the Scriptures spoken in the various languages in the East. I therefore think, in existing circumstances, no further supplies will be necessary, till what I have on hand be disposed of. The following is a list of Bibles and Testaments sold at Alexandria from the 13th June till the 31st December 1827 :-2 Italian Bibles, 2 Italian New Testaments, 1 German Bible: for which I have received 6 dollars, 5 piastres, and 10 paras.

In itinerating in Egypt, I have distributed vast numbers of copies of the Scriptures amongst Mahommedans and Native Christians, of which I have kept no regular account. In August 1828, the Rev. Mr. Müller, of the Church Missionary Society, accompanied me on a Missionary tour to the Delta; and, in the course of our journeyings, we had many opportunities of disseminating the word of God amongst those who, until then, had never been visited by a single ray of Revealed Truth.

At Rosetta, we went to the Coptic Convent, but were refused admittance. We called on a Maronite Priest, but could not prevail upon him to receive a copy of the Arabic New Testament. He told us, that he was afraid of being brought into trouble by its being seen in his house. On the afternoon of the same day, however, we fell in with two Moslems, who, after some conversation, were willing to take a New Testament, which they promised to read, and compare with the Korân. To a native of Tuscany, who had imbibed infidel prin

ciples, but whom we found willing to inquire after the Truth, we gave an Italian Bible.

The following day, the 18th instant, we with difficulty gained admittance into the above convent. We gave a copy of the Coptic and Arabic Psalter to the priest; and observed, that our sole object in visiting Rosetta, and other places, was to distribute the Holy Scriptures; and that, having experienced the happy influence of our holy religion on our own souls, we were anxious that others should be made partakers of like precious benefits. He approved of our motives, and said he would not fail to recommend his friends to wait upon us for our sacred books. In the afternoon, the Coptic Priest called at our lodgings: and, on our stating our surprise that, in a city containing six thousand inhabitants, there should be no institution for the instruction of the rising generation, he replied, that Christians in this country are so divided amongst themselves, and self-conceited in the opinions of their own sects, that provided a school were opened by the Copts, the Greek and Catholic Native Christians would not attend, and vice versa.

The afternoon of the 19th instant presented a very pleasant scene: nuinbers of young people and children called upon us, and begged to be supplied with the Holy Scriptures. We gave all who could read a New Testament or a Psalter: the young people were quite happy, for we had conferred upon them the highest gratification. Oh that they may be led duly to appreciate the Sacred Treasure! To the priest at the Greek Convent we gave a Testament in Ancient and Modern Greek. During the course of the evening, the Bashaw's Dragoman called at our lodgings: he appeared much affected by what we said to him about the Gospel of Christ. Before he bade us good night, he requested us to give him " a book as deep as the sea.' We presented him with an Arabic Bible, which he received thankfully, and begged an interest in our prayers. On our leaving Rosetta, we had numerous applications for Bibles, and were happy on being able to meet the urgent demands of the Mahommedans and poor Native Christians.

I may add to the above a brief account of an interview I had, during the excursion, with a Mahommedan Hagi, who had been seven times at Meccafive times on pilgrimage, and twice on business. I found him in company with one of the Bashaw's dragomen and a Seyid, i.e. one of the descendants of the prophet Mahommed: the Seyids may be easily recognised, by their wearing a green turban. After some general observations, I began to call in question the religion of his Prophet, and the inspiration of the Korân-and the impracticability of its precepts being obeyed by men of all nations: I adverted to the Fast of Ramazan; and shewed the impossibility of observing it within the Polar circles when it happened to fall in summer, as the sun is then above the horizon in some places for several months together. This made him impatient; and, by way of reply, he chanted a few verses of the Korân, which he imagined would be a satisfactory answer to me. I now told him, that I could not receive as argument the verses he had quoted; for I did not believe the Korân to be a revelation from heaven, but viewed it as a mere fiction, and its author as an impostor. "It is true," I remarked, "there are some good things in it; but it is like your piastres which are only watered with silver." He was astonished at my audacity, and, with a sigh, glanced at the Seyid, with a look which bespoke "Behold, what an infidel this Englishman is!" As an inducement to continue the conversation, I signified my willingness to become a Mahommedan, if, by sound argument, he could prove the Korân to have descended from heaven. I told him one strong objection I had to the Korân is, that it does not correspond with the Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Gospels: "If the Korân is true, they are false: but," continued I, "it is argued by Moslems that our sacred books are from God." "Yes," said the Hagi, "but the Korân is also from Heaven." I replied, "that could not be, otherwise we would have some intimation in the Old or New Testament respecting the Advent of such an illustrious prophet as you say Mahommed is: but no such intimation has been given; for while the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets testify of the Messiah, there is

not a single word spoken of Mahommed." This he declared to be "downright falsehood;" for Jesus, in the Evangile, had spoken of the Advent of Mahommed. I solemnly and affectionately assured him that he was imposed upon; for the name of Mahommed does not exist in the New Testament. He replied, "The Christians have adulterated the Bible." I answered, "This is impossible; for the Jews, who are the implacable enemies of Christianity, would soon disclose the imposture." He now began to feel the force of my argument; and a smile of confusion pervaded his countenance. I then entreated him and the Seyid to be lieve the Gospel; and requested the Hagi to accompany me to my lodgings, where I would put into his hands the true word of God. On condition that I would say nothing to the discredit of his Prophet, he agreed to accompany me; when I presented him with a Bible, which he thankfully received; promising to read it, and compare it with the Korân. After some discussion on the Divinity of Christ, we parted good friends.

PRINTED BY R. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR, LONDON.